East Tennessee State Buccaneers
External Links *Official athletics site The East Tennessee State Buccaneers are the basketball team that represents East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in Johnson City, Tennessee. ETSU currently competes in the Southern Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2017. The Buccaneers are coached by 2nd-year head coach Steve Forbes. History Division 1 Season-by-season results The Les Robinson / Alan LeForce Era Commonly referred to as "The Glory Days" of ETSU basketball, between 1989 and 1992, ETSU won 4 straight Southern Conference titles while compiling 99 wins. During this time ETSU had wins over prestigious programs such as Arizona, NC State (3 times), Wake Forest, Cincinnati, BYU, Xavier, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Tennessee (twice) and Memphis. ETSU also suffered their most famous loss when they lost by 1 point to top ranked Oklahoma as a 16th seed in the 1989 NCAA Tournament. When Les Robinson left for NC State after the 1990 season, long time assistant Alan Leforce took over a veteran team led by Senior Keith "Mister" Jennings. The team was ranked as high as 10th in the nation during the 1991 season and finished the year 17th in the AP poll and 15th in the Coaches poll.http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/SOUC/1991.html In the 1992 NCAA Tournament ETSU upset the Arizona Wildcats in the opening round, but eventually fell in the second round to the Michigan Wolverines and the Fab Five. The Ed Dechellis Era In 1996 Ed Dechellis replaced Alan Leforce who resigned after the 1995-1996 season. In 2001 Dechellis led ETSU to their first regular season conference title since the 91-92 season. In 2003 Dechellis helped ETSU win their first Southern Conference Tournament title and first NCAA birth since 1992. ETSU faced Wake Forest University in the first round where they lost in the final seconds 73-76 after having a chance to win the game with the last shot. After the 2003 season Dechellis left for Penn State. Dechellis complied 105-93 record at ETSU but is mostly remembered for bringing prominence back to the ETSU basketball program that had struggled after the 1993 season. The Murry Bartow Era In 2003 ETSU hired Murry Bartow after Ed Dechellis took the head coaching position at Penn State. Bartow took over a senior led team that won 27 games and nearly went undefeated in conference play in his first season, additionally ETSU won their second straight Southern Conference Tournament and headed back to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. ETSU had another close call in the 2004 NCAA Tournament when they lost to Cincinnati 77-80 in the closing seconds, much like the Wake Forest game the previous year. In the 2005-2006 season ETSU left the Southern Conference to join the Atlantic Sun Conference. During his time in the Atlantic Sun ETSU has received 4 postseason bids. Back to Back NCAA tournaments in 2009 and 2010, the NIT in 2007 and the CIT in 2011. Post-Season History ETSU has appeared in nine NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 2–10. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/history/_/team1/5858 ETSU also appeared in the 1983 and 2007 NIT. In 2011 ETSU was invited to the CIT and made it to the semifinals after defeating Furman and Ohio. The Bucs then lost to Iona in the semifinals, 83-80. NCAA Results NIT Results CIT Results Team Records Career leaders Single game leaders *'All stats are from the 2010-2011 media guide and are updated through the 2010-2011 basketball season.' ETSU players in the NBA and ABA 3 players from ETSU have played in the NBA & ABA http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/colleges.cgi?college=etennst and a total of 8 players have been drafted.http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/draft.cgi?college=etennst Tommy Woods 1968 http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/woodsto01.html Skeeter Swift 1970 to 1974 http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/swiftsk01.html Keith "Mister" Jennings 1993 to 1995 http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jennike01.html External links *Official ETSU Men's Basketball Page *Basketball Reference References Category:NCAA Division I schools Category:Atlantic Sun Conference members Category:Schools in Tennessee